Victim or Victor?

James 1:12 - Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor’s] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.

This morning, waking up much later than normal, I felt like my quiet time began with me crawling before the throne of grace with my head held down. It wasn't the first morning of me waking up late, but I was coming off a week of waking up late. I know that the repetition of good habits creates a good habit. The repetition of bad habits, creates a bad habit... and I know just what time I need to wake up in order to complete my whole morning routine before kids start waking up. Who knows, when kids wake up, there is NO looking back!?! :) In a good way, they are a blessing, but any sort of a "quiet time" with the Lord once kids are up would be laced with many interruptions.... and as you can imagine with a 3 year old and 1 year old, would be anything BUT quiet! :)

I know that the Slight Edge in being a mom, running a peaceful home, getting things that are productive done, ultimately HINGES completely around whether MAMA gets her quiet time with the Lord each morning. The mornings when it does not get done, I notice my patience is shorter, I feel like things are more chaotic, and often from a productivity standpoint, I feel like little gets done, short of having kids fed and dressed! Time with the Lord paves the foundation of a solid, peaceful, productive day!

Well, as I journaled I threw up all the "blah blah's"... you know, maybe you've done it too? All of the reasons "why" my actions could be justified. All the excuses. All the buts. I read a quote that was very fitting by Les Brown, "The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today.*" 

After I was done journaling my "justifications," I decided to listen to see what the Holy Spirit might have to whisper in my ear. Would it make me feel better about myself? Would it be a "that's ok, shake it off" sort of talk? Well... it went something like this...

Are you going to "allow" or "accept" circumstances? Are you going to justify sleeping in? Are you going to be on the fence about working out? You decide. You can be a victim & by doing so, you will give life to symptoms the world wants to give you. Or you can go about being productive, having energy, eating healthy, being fit, making this an amazing year. You decide! Last week was a bit of a funk. You basically fed into symptoms. You were a victim. This week, you decide. 

The Hebrew definition for "crown" is this:  A wreath or garland which was given as a prize to victors in public games.  

My daily actions determine whether I am going to allow life to treat me as the VICTIM to my circumstances or whether I am going to choose to be the VICTOR in my circumstances. My response to how I feel, how I handle good or bad reports, housework that has seemed to mounded up overnight, the "To-Do" list that seems never-ending.... my response to any and all of these things, in part determines whether I will be the Victim or Victor! At the end of the day, I decide whether the victors crown will be placed on my head, or garland around my neck (as it defines in the Hebrew). I decide whether I will win or lose. I decide whether I will respond as the Victim or Victor! Will I tackle the things that need to get done, or will I allow the guilt of not getting them done to tackle me. 

I decide. You decide. Will you be the Victim or the Victor today? You choose. 

________

* Quote 

#190 - Bit by Bit

Good morning! It's cool on the porch this morning. Overcast, but the birds are still chirping. I couldn't help but think this morning that next year at this time we will have an addition. Trinity will be 9 months old! Amazing to think. Last year this time, that was Tyler Junior. Each season just brings adjustments, but equal blessings. God is good. Well, let's get started... are you ready?

Proverbs 6:6-8 - Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise!-- ⁷Which, having no chief, overseer, or ruler, ⁸Provides her food in the summer and gathers her supplies in the harvest.

Proverbs 31:16 - She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties]; with her savings [of time and strength] she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard.

There are lots of types of people out there. Starters, finishers, the detail people who are great at perfecting things - putting on the polished touches, but all are important. Have you ever started a project, but for two weeks later the project to lay on your kitchen table only partially completed? Half done. Cluttered, but you plan to come back to it. In the mean time, it is what it is, an unfinished but started project. What about this.... you are working to complete something good, but then something new catches your eye. Ooooohh! This new idea seems great, exciting, fun. So, you jump ship, leave the first project, maybe even the second project to work on this new thing, this new idea. Now you sit with not one, not two, but three projects, started, but unfinished. Maybe all equally good, maybe even all "God" ideas, but there they all sit, unfinished.

I find myself realizing how quickly that was becoming me. Tyler and I were riding home from church yesterday, talking. It's always good to talk to him because he provides great perspective for things. Upon completing my book in January, I set it aside for 3-4 months to take a break from it. I knew that the draft was completed, but the book was far from complete. I had something to work from, I had 70,000+ words as a place to start. I remember starting the project, getting specific direction "how" to write a book. That directions were to work on it bit by bit, little by little. "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." In my quiet time one morning, the Holy Spirit told me to just write for one hour, four days per week, first thing when I woke up. Even against my "religious" thinking, before my quiet time! The Holy Spirit directed me to write for ONE hour even before I had my quiet time. The funny thing is, guess what? It worked! It's funny how the Holy Spirit know us. He knew that first thing in the morning, I was fresh. First thing in the morning, I wasn't tempted to take a nap, or nodding off.

Well... the last few weeks, as I've been working through the editing process, I thought I would just do things my way. I'm smart, right? I can figure things out on my own, right? So without asking, I determined that I would do my editing in the afternoon during Tyler Juniors nap time. After several weeks, I found myself frustrated. A whole week would go by, and I would not have worked on my book at all. Nothing progressing, nothing moving forward. And even sometimes, like picking up a shiny coin, I would pick up a new thing, a new project.... one more thing to distract me from my goal, completion of my book. SO... on the way home from church yesterday, Tyler mentioned a quote I have heard him say before, it's something like this, "Broken focus is often the enemy to success." He pointed out these several projects I had picked up and gotten distracted with, and he saw it, I was starting to get overwhelmed and frustrated. I was starting to not know how I could get everything done. He reminded me that it would probably be good to FINISH my book and the other projects could follow. I immediately thought about the Proverbs 31 woman. What does she do? She CONSIDERS a field, she doesn't jump in immediately with both feet, she first CONSIDERS it. She expands prudently, not wanting to neglect her current duties, her current projects. Like the Proverbs 6 ant, she progresses little by little, she does bit by bit, until a project is completed and she can take on a new one, she can add to her plate.

What has worked before? How has the Holy Spirit directed you in the past? This morning is one of those "pat yourself on the back mornings" for me. I feel good. I woke up, wrote for an hour. THEN I read my Bible, now I'm writing this devotion. I'm working towards completion of a project that I started. I completed the book bit by bit, from September to December... it only took 4 months to write 70,000 words, doing little by little. Not overnight. Just a little bit at a time on a consistent basis.

What's a project you are working on? I heard a quote yesterday, "Continuity leads to emotional stability." Maybe it's having a regular quiet time.....if you just got consistent, the same time every day, I would almost bet that all around you would be more at peace, more stable, more solid.

What is it that you may need to look at? What is it that you can begin, or begin again to just do bit by bit?  Take advise from the Proverbs 31 woman, take advise from the ant. Is there something you can do & complete just by doing a little bit by bit?

#52 - The Verbs of our Proverbs 31 Woman

Good morning. In all my thoughts, I feel like I may be jumping around this morning... but I'm going to believe that God will pull it all together in the end and make it all make sense! 

Proverbs 16:33 - The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly of the Lord [even the events that seem accidental are really ordered by Him].

What does the Proverbs 31 woman do? What are her actions?  

Proverbs 31: ..... (KJV) - She seeketh, she bringeth, she riseth, she giveth, she considereth, she buyeth, she planteth, she girdeth, she strengtheneth, she perceiveth, she layeth, she stretcheth out, she reacheth, she maketh, she openeth, she looketh, she eateth not...

In the Hebrew:
lot - pebbles used for systematically making decisions 
decision - act of deciding a case, plan, execution, case, process, procedure, judgement, sentence


Verbs. Verbs show action. Show accomplishment towards an end goal. Verbs show movement. The Proverbs 31 woman is moving in the direction to finish tasks. Actions. Doing things to work towards accomplishment and completion. Just move. As I looked at the word "lot", I never knew that a lot were pebbles used for making systematic decisions. I had always heard the common, "they cast lots for Jesus clothes", but I guess I didn't really know what that meant. Sometimes it would be nice to have a "lot". In the past I have often thought, "Lord, what do I do now? How do I become more productive? How do I use my time wisely to get the most out of my day & my life? To get me closer to our families goals?" And then... this verse came to my mind...here it is in the Amplified...read it over and over. Meditate on it. Go back and read it again. 

Phil 2:13 - [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.

Today, we don't need "lots" because we have the Holy Spirit. I don't need to have a bunch of "pebbles" to toss to decide what "actions" I should take. Accidental, no. It makes me feel good that GOD ULTIMATELY is still controlling it all. Things aren't by accident. He is STILL in control. If I feel like I make a mistake, even that "mistake" He can bring it around to my favor. 


All the while, GOD is energizing & creating in me the power & desire to _______________. For me? To be more organized. To have a system. To get more done. To tie up loose ends. To incorporate a system where things do not slip through the cracks, where I do complete tasks, where I do not forget. A trusted system that I can count on versus relying on my brain to remember everything. A system. GTD - Getting Things Done by David Allen.  


I can continue to do the "do's".... do the "verbs", the "actions"... work towards completion, knowing God is in control. My desire is to do HIS will, and so I can TRUST that HE is creating in me the power and the desire to will and to work things for HIS good pleasure! It is not by MY strength, it is GOD who is working it in me. It is HIM. HE is creating in me the desires. That even on my Day of Rest, my desire is doing crafts, sewing, creating... all of that is part of what the Proverbs 31 woman does. She sews, crafts, creates. That even those things as "rest" are the things that are developing me more into this "Proverbs 31 Woman." 


I hope you didn't feel like I completely jumped all over the place this morning. It did feel like that a bit. Lots of thoughts. But praise God! We do not have to get overwhelmed with ALL that the Proverbs 31 woman does. All the VERBS! All the ACTION! All the ACCOMPLISHMENTS. We can trust that it is GOD who is ALL THE WHILE bringing those things to pass in us! That even those things that seem ACCIDENTAL, are drawing us into a place of favor! Praise the Lord! We do not have to "cast lots", throw pebbles, dice, "einy, meany, miney, mo"... in order to decide what to do next.... we can ASK. We can be directed! Praise God that we don't have to be ALL over night. We can apply the Slight Edge (By Jeff Olson)... doing those little things every day. Those things that are easy to do, but equally easy not to do. We can apply the small, that will eventually lead to BIG positive changes when you add them all up. The SLIGHT EDGE. No reason to get overwhelmed by ALL the Proverbs 31 woman does, and ALL that she is. It's a matter of taking ONE VERB, ONE ACTION, ONE ACTIVITY, and beginning to apply it. 

Favor favor favor. God's favor goes before me now. His favor makes policies, rules, regulations, laws, attitudes, even my mistakes to change on my behalf. He even makes my mistakes to prosper. God's FAVOR is working for me now!

Choose ONE activity. Begin to work on it today.